Reunion
by minachandler
Summary: Missing scene from 4x05. Now Sara's soul has been restored, Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow can reunite with their old friend.


Watching someone get their soul restored is a strange thing.

It's not that Oliver hasn't seen strange things happen before. On the contrary, he's seen things that to this day he can't quite believe he's witnessed – on the island and since then. But somehow there's something different when it involves Sara.

When Sara comes to with a gasp, Oliver's arms are wrapped around Felicity, and he can feel his heart still thumping wildly beneath Felicity's palms as he presses a kiss to her temple. Oliver watches, trying to remember to breathe, and as Sara slowly gets up, confusion all over her face, relief washes over him – Sara disappears in Laurel's and Quentin's embrace, and he hears Felicity murmur, "Thank God."

And Oliver's not sure if it's because he's just come back from another realm altogether, or because he didn't know if he would ever see the people he loved ever again, but he feels emotion well up in his throat as he watches Sara throw her arms around her sister's neck and say – barely audibly – _"I've missed you, pretty-bird."_

"I missed you too," Laurel says tearfully. And then Laurel's asking her what she remembers, telling her where she is, what's happened. Usually Oliver would fight it, suppress the tears that he can feel in his eyes, but this time he doesn't. He lets them fall freely, down his cheeks and into Felicity's hair. For how long he's standing there with his arms around her he's not quite sure – it's at least a few minutes. At last, through his tears, he can see Laurel and Quentin moving to get Sara to her feet.

And even though he helped haul Sara's soul out of the Lazarus Pit himself, he's not quite prepared to hear her say his name for the first time in over a year.

"Ollie?"

Felicity lets go of him at that, pushing him towards Sara, and Oliver finds himself hugging her for dear life in a way he never thought he'd be able to again.

"It's me," he says quietly. He's forgotten how small she is in his arms. Her bare arms feel cold against his warm skin but he doesn't care – she's _alive_ and that is all that matters to him. "Welcome home, Sara."

"You did say you would help me get my soul back," Sara whispers into his chest.

"That's at least one promise I kept," Oliver replies. He can feel the guilt in his gut for how he's dishonoured her name in the past year, but he tries his best to suppress that. There's time, he knows, for him to deal with that later.

Now she's alive they have all the time in the world to talk.

"I can attest to that," Felicity says from behind them, and at this Oliver pulls away, slowly releasing Sara and looking back at Felicity, who's carrying a warm grey blanket. "Here, take this. You look cold. And you always did complain about getting frostbite in that corset. Not that it doesn't look great on you, which to be honest is saying something considering the Lazarus Pit's waters probably don't make for great conditioner –"

"Felicity," Diggle interrupts, and he and Oliver share a look of exasperation. Felicity shakes her head, seems to realise she's babbling, and instead she busies herself with draping the blanket around Sara's shoulders.

"Sorry. I'm just... really, really glad you're not dead anymore." Sara smiles, hugs Felicity tightly, just as Laurel joins Sara at her side and Oliver goes to Thea, who for some reason is keeping her distance. When Oliver reaches his sister, though, she hugs him too, and he gets the feeling from the way she buries her face into his chest that she doesn't want to talk.

"You're still cute," he hears Sara say fondly as Felicity lets her go.

"Don't tell me your girlfriend is sweet on her too," Constantine mutters, but he's never been very good at whispering and everyone hears anyway. Lance raises his eyebrows at Felicity, who gives Constantine a death glare before she meets Oliver's eyes at the same time as Captain Lance.

"No, really, Oliver, where _did_ you find this guy?" says Lance.

Oliver laughs, just as he lets go of his sister. He keeps his hand on her shoulder, though, not sure if he's holding her back or steadying her.

"Took the words out of my mouth, Captain," Dig says. Oliver realises Diggle is suddenly at his side, and he reaches out to pat Sara's shoulder. "Good to have you back. You've been missed."

"By all of us," Thea says suddenly, and at the sound of Thea's voice Sara's eyes widen a fraction and she takes an unsteady step backwards, nearly tripping in the process. Laurel's there to catch her, though, and so is Felicity.

"Hey, it's okay," Laurel tells her sister as she rights Sara, grips her shoulders so she's steady once more. "It wasn't Thea who killed you."

"It was," Thea says, and this time she takes a tentative step forward. "It was me, but I was… drugged, to make me susceptible to suggestion so I could –"

"Thea," Oliver interrupts, and he steps forward too, but to his surprise Sara shakes her head.

"It's okay," Sara says, remarkably unfazed by it all – but then she's always been like that, ever since she first came back to Starling from Nanda Parbat.

"R-really?" says Thea, and now he's closer to her Oliver can see Thea's hands are shaking.

"I remember dying. And I remember you… with those arrows… I knew something wasn't right. I know killers, Thea. And you're not one of them."

And Oliver watches, dumbstruck, as tears spill from Thea's eyes and she hugs Sara too, all the while apologising profusely, only for Sara to apologise back.

The moment's broken, though, when Constantine says a second later, "Now, as much as I love post-restitutionary reunions, I could do with a cigarette."

"Not here, you're not," Felicity says immediately. "You may have helped save my friend's soul, but this is still my house."

"Felicity, show him the side entrance, please," Oliver requests, holding back another laugh.

"Sure," Felicity says. She glances over to Sara who is whispering something assuring to Thea. "And, uh, Captain, I think it's safe to say you can get back to your hugging."

But unexpectedly Lance makes his way to Constantine instead, outstretching his hand. Constantine takes it and shakes, a slight smile on his lips.

"Thank you," Lance says. "For everything. I don't know what kind of mumbo-jumbo you did to get my baby girl back, but I don't care. If there's ever anything you need – you only have to ask."

"And I appreciate that," Constantine says. "But this one's already paid for. My boy Oliver saved my life five years ago. I'm just repaying the favour. It's just a bonus that I get to see his pretty face again after all this time."

Oliver smiles, shakes his head in exasperation.

"I thought you said you wanted to go and ruin your lungs for at bit?" Felicity interjects pointedly.

"Excellent idea," Constantine says, shooting a grin at Oliver. Felicity reaches out, squeezes Oliver's arm briefly before leading the way for Constantine, and Oliver watches them both go, hearing Felicity inquire none too subtly about if Constantine has any tattoos (and if any of them were in Chinese, by any chance).

Once they're out of earshot, though, Oliver looks back on the newly reunited family before him. Captain Lance envelopes Sara into another hug, as though he never wants to let her go again. And suddenly it's like there's this lightness in Oliver's chest, as though a heavy weight has been lifted from atop his heart knowing Sara's alive, with a soul, and that she is surrounded by her family.

 _Their_ family.


End file.
